


So...Adam?

by PM_Writes



Series: Rookie cop meets lovable idiot [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Barbecue, Cheek Kisses, Dancer Lance (Voltron), Engagement, Established Relationship, First Impressions, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Meet the Family, Nervousness, Police Officer Keith (Voltron), Shadam, adashi, don't need to read the rest of the series to follow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-16 07:17:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15431856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PM_Writes/pseuds/PM_Writes
Summary: “Oh my god.”“Keith, I just told the love of your brother’s life that I’m a sleazy ex-con and screamed in his face about drugs. You have to break up with me now.”“Oh my god.”





	So...Adam?

The park is bustling in the afternoon sun. Food trucks line the streets, children run freely around the play structure, screaming their happy little lungs out. Several grills line the picnic area, the air thickening with the smell of meat and vegetarian alternative patties. Today is the annual Public Service Appreciation Barbeque. It’s a lovely gathering with a title that is way too long where emergency responders haul their families down to scarf food and pretend that the police officers and firefighters don’t hate each other. And, like, appreciate their civil service or whatever.

It’s not Keith’s favorite event.

Lance finally shuts the car door, sunglasses perched on his head and biting his lip as he looks around, fingers already tapping an anxious rhythm against his thigh. Keith rolls his eyes. “Please calm down.”

Lance whirls on Keith. “Um, no. It’s your adoptive _brother’s fiancé_. I already barely scraped by with a crummy first impression for Shiro at the golf course. This has to go well or else my future-in-laws will hate me and then every family dinner will end with someone screaming or crying – probably me – all because I messed up an important handshake.”

“ _Future-in-laws_?” Keith smirks, bumping his hip against Lance’s. “It’s only been a few months. Feeling confident?”

Scoffing, Lance links their elbows together as they start walking towards the pandemonium. “Clearly not. I’m dramatic and overcompensating. Duh. I thought you were a detective or something. Shape up, babe.”

“Beat cop. Not a detective.”

“Uh huh. Yeah. Sure. Same difference.” Keith feels Lance tighten his grip. If he gnaws on his lip anymore it will start bleeding, and even with roughly fifty paramedics in the vicinity, Keith would rather avoid a scene. “So. Let’s just get this over with. Where’re Shiro and Adam?” he asks, voice cracking on Adam’s name.

The thing is, Keith hates this barbeque. A lot. He normally only goes if Shiro manages to force him, and then he leaves as soon as he can. Unfortunately, this year he had a date, and Shiro was a maniacal fuckhead who sabotaged Keith’s plans to spend his Saturday in peace. When Lance had come over to their apartment for dinner last week, Shiro had oh-so-helpfully brought it up and got Lance nice and excited.

_“Keith, it’ll be great! I love barbeques!”_

But then Shiro turned the tables on both of them. Because he sucked.

_“Yeah, Keith. It’ll be so much fun to take Lance this year. Actually, this would be a great opportunity to introduce you to my fiancé, Lance.”_

Now neither of them could back out. Keith had to spend the whole day at an event he didn’t like trying to keep his boyfriend calm enough to avoid an aneurysm.

Beside him, Lance has started to fidget with his car keys as if he’s thinking about making a run for it. As much as Keith would absolutely be on board for we-just-ditched-an-event-and-foiled-Shiro’s-plans-sex, this needs to happen sooner or later. Keith knows that Shiro is at least _hoping_ that he’ll move in with Lance before the wedding next year. That way, he won’t have to feel bad about kicking his little brother out of the apartment to enjoy married life like a real adult.

That’s probably something he should eventually talk to Lance about, but maybe not right this second.

“Hey,” Keith says, turning Lance to face him. “Adam is a good guy. He’ll at least pretend to like you to be polite.” Lance frowns. “ _Stop worrying._ ” Lance does not at all appear to have stopped worrying. Keith sighs. “Look, I’m gonna go get us some drinks. Just stay here, chill out, and then we’ll go find them.”

Grumpily, Lance leans against the tree behind him. “Fine. But you better go through the bouncy dragon with me.”

“Lance, that’s for kids.”

“You promised,” he insists, pointing between Keith’s eyes with a pout.

Keith takes Lance’s hand to put it back down and leans in to kiss him once on the cheek. “Alright, fine.”

Keith walks at a brisk pace towards one of the drink bars that had been set up on the picnic tables. Doing his best to tune out the screaming children of his co-workers, he snags two cream sodas, only to be stopped by the chief of his precinct, Allura.

His distaste for small talk aside, Keith actually does like Allura, so he makes a point to try to stay engaged for a few minutes, nodding along and respectfully interjecting. She’s in the middle of an interesting point about their upcoming training events when Keith sees it.

There, over her shoulder, back where he’s left Lance alone for  _five measly minutes,_ Adam extends his hand to his woefully unaware boyfriend.

“Shit,” he hisses. “Sorry, I need to, er, later-talk-bye,” he flounders in a rush, dodging around his boss with the bottled sodas in hand. “Fuck.”

Even at his maximum power walk, Keith is not fast enough to mitigate disaster. Before he is close enough to politely intervene in the conversation, he hears Lance’s voice rise.

“Oh! You’re Adam! WOW. That’s sure neat!”

Adam’s brow furrows. “Thank you? And, what was your name?”

“Uh, I’m just uh – y’see I’m actually here for, uh…” Lance’s shoulders are getting closer and closer to his ears. He might manage to pinch his own head off soon.

Keith dodges around a frisbee and two kids chasing each other. “Come on,” Keith mutters under his breath. “Just say you're with me. Two easy words, Lance. With. Keith.”

“PAROLE!” Lance shouts in Adam’s face.

“Goddamnit.”

Adam quite literally takes a step back. “Parole?”

“I, uh, yup! I have to come and, er, appreciate law enforcement! As a condition for my parole. Because I did bad stuff. And was in jail. So. That’s me. Just a dude here to appreciate police. And repent! Lots of repenting. Crime is, like, so lame. Really bogus stuff. Sure learned my lesson.” By then Lance’s eyes are wide and frantic, his breath coming in short forceful huffs.

Adam tries to smile. Tries. “That’s...nice.”

Lance nods too fast too many times, seems to realize the unimaginable horror of what he has just done, and screams, “OKAY NICE TO MEET YOU ADAM DON’T DO DRUGS BYE.” He spins on his heel and breaks into a dead run. Unfortunately, he only makes it about three steps before he’s colliding into Keith, who has finally arrived much too late. The force knocks Keith back and bubbly soda cascades over his bare forearms. Lance meets his eyes with a wild sort of stare, and before Keith can even begin to fix this clusterfuck, Lance is yanking him away towards the water fountain by the tennis courts. “OH MY GOD! SIR! I AM SO SORRY! HERE LET ME HELP YOU WASH THAT OFF, COMPLETE STRANGER.”

Keith lets himself be dragged away, absolutely stunned by his boyfriend’s complete idiocy. Lance holds his hands over the water to rinse off the stickiness. He finally looks up to see Keith staring at him wide-eyed and absolutely uncomprehending.

Cheeks burning, Lance swallows. “Okay, so-”

“ _Jesus, Lance.”_

“I panicked!”

“I-I don’t even. I knew you were a little nervous but that was-”

“I wasn’t a little nervous! I was a lot nervous!”

“You told him you’re a criminal!”

“Ex-criminal! Who is repenting!”

“You’ve never been a criminal! Why didn’t you just say who you were?!”

“PA-NIC, Keith.”

“Oh my god.”

“Keith, I just told the love of your brother’s life that I’m a sleazy ex-con and screamed in his face about drugs. You have to break up with me now. I can’t live with this shame.”

“Oh my god.”

Suddenly, Lance seizes Keith by his arms and shakes him dramatically. “I can’t ever show my face to Adam again. We’re going to have a tragic secret relationship like Romeo and Juliet and then I’ll end up committing murder and getting exiled and we’ll both end up dead,” he wheezes out in one breath.

Oddly enough, it’s Lance’s absurdity that sobers Keith up from Lance’s absurdity. “Wait, why are _you_ Romeo?”

Lance backs up and rolls his eyes. “Because Juliet is the smart pretty one, _duh_. She’s all, ‘you’re a stupid hormonal boy and I kinda like you, but how do I know that you’re, like, for real in love with me and not just super horny right now?’ And, like, if anyone is the dumb horny boy in this relationship, it has to be me.”

Keith blinks and finishes shaking his arms dry. “We are so off topic right now.” Before they can go back and forth any more, Keith hears his name being called. Shiro is approaching them, waving happily, absolutely ignorant of the chaos Lance’s anxiety has unleashed upon them all.

“Oh no no no no no. Nope. That’s it. Bouncy dragon be damned I am _out_.” Keith tries to stop him, but Lance is already running down the field and behind the bushes out of sight.

“Everything okay?” Shiro’s head is cocked in confusion. Keith just drops his face into his palm and tries to take a deep breath.

“I’ve officially lost Lance.” Giving up, Keith pours out their sodas and tosses them in a nearby recycling bin. “He was a lot more anxious about meeting Adam than I realized.” He recounts the last fifteen minutes of his stupid life to Shiro, explaining that, yes, Lance is quite literally running away from his problems now.

After laughing for about five minutes straight, Shiro crosses his arms and hums thoughtfully. “I think I have an idea. Come on.” Guiding them back to the picnic area, Keith warily watches Shiro scoop up Allura’s megaphone and crawl up to the top of the play structure. Adam seems to have found them and nudges Keith’s elbow.

“Care to tell me what he’s doing up there?”

“Fuck if I know,” Keith shrugs.

Clearing his throat, Shiro quickly gets everyone’s attention. “Excuse me, but I have a serious announcement to make.” All of the adults press a little closer in to hear better, drinks and food in hand. “I’m afraid we have a dire situation.” Low confused murmurs break out over the crowd. “My brother’s date, Lance McClain, has gone missing somewhere in this park. Since we are all emergency responders, I was hoping we could fan out and search for him. It’s very important that he be found so that he can officially meet my fiancé,” he winks at the collected firemen, police, and paramedics, earning a wave of chuckles from the crowd.

Suddenly, a giant white puff of hair is scaling the play tower until Allura stands next to Shiro, taking the megaphone from him. “Clearly this is a _serious emergency_ that must be dealt with immediately. Everyone break into groups of three and begin the search!”

After giving everyone a clear description of Lance, most of the adults splinter off, some taking their kids along for this extreme round of hide-and-seek that seems to have begun.

Shiro joins Keith and Adam back on the ground, Adam giving Keith a searching stare. “So, Lance, your romantic partner, is Cuban, wearing a blue shirt with a shark on it, and approximately six feet and three inches tall.”

“Yes.”

“Did he–?”

Keith chuckles. “Accidentally run into you alone and freak out about it so much that he yelled in your face about being on parole and drugs? Yeah. That’s him. He’s hiding now because he’s embarrassed. I don’t think he’s done anything seriously illegal in his life.”

Adam takes his place walking between him and Shiro, adjusting his glasses. “Huh. That’s actually quite flattering. You talk me up that much, Takashi?”

Shiro grins. “Sure do.”

Before long, groups of cops, firefighters, and paramedics scour the park. They check every plastic tunnel, the top of every climbable tree, even the port-o-potties. They ask the kids where they think the best hiding spots are to investigate, letting the young’uns lead them around proudly in the search for Lance McClain.

Keith, Shiro, and Adam are peering around the gazebo when a loud shriek rings out across the park. Quickly, their eyes find Lance tearing through the grass, maybe four third graders and two firefighters in hot pursuit.

Shiro is already moving. “We’ve got a runner!”

The three of them make a beeline for Lance, who finally sees them and screams louder.

“KEITH YOU TRAITOR!”

“JUST BE AN ADULT AND DEAL WITH THIS!”

“NO!”

Lance swerves to switch direction, sprinting for the blow-up bouncy dragon looming in the distance. He pauses just long enough to rip off his shoes and scramble inside the inflated vinyl. They reach it barely seconds after him, tossing their shoes and climbing up the dragon’s mouth. Rolling down the first slide, Keith catches sight of Lance’s leg disappearing over the first hurdle.

Chasing Lance around reminds Keith that his boyfriend is, in fact, a professional dancer, and definitely fit enough to keep up with Keith and Shiro’s police training. Adam almost trips a couple of times, several bouncing kids throwing his balance off, but he keeps pace.

Keith pulls ahead at last, throwing himself over the final slide down the dragon’s tail not a second after Lance. He nearly has him until Shiro and Adam crash on top of him at the bottom, pinning him to the grass while Lance makes a clean getaway.

Adam dusts himself off and helps Shiro to his feet. “That’s some boyfriend you have there, Keith.”

“Yeah,” Shiro laughs. “He’s a real catch.”

Keith rolls his eyes. “Stop making dad puns.” Quickly retrieving their shoes, they start jogging after him. By the time they reach the parking lot where the food trucks are packed in tightly, they’ve lost him in the crowd. Huffing, Keith looks around until he pauses at the sight of a familiar yellow truck near the end of the line.

He motions for Adam and Shiro to follow, coming up to the truck and waiting patiently until the owner emerges in the window.

Hunk appears, orange headband tied across his forehead as it always is, and immediately breaks out into a sweat. “Oh, Keith! Hi there!” His grin is wobbly at best.

“Hi, Hunk. Where’s Lance?”

“Who? Lance? Never heard of him.”

“Hunk.”

The chef sighs and jerks his chin to the side. They meet him at the entrance to the truck, Hunk stepping out of the way to reveal Lance curled up behind a bag of potatoes. He looks up in terror. “ _Hunk!”_ he whines.

Hunk waves his hands in the air with exasperation. “Dude, I’m sorry but I have a business to run. Go face the music.”

Keith takes his arm. “Come on. Up,” he says, nodding to Hunk once as he drags Lance out into the daylight. Lance relents but tries to hunker behind Keith as they approach Adam and Shiro. Unfortunately, he’s slightly too tall for this maneuver to be effective in the least.

Keith coaxes (forces) Lance out from behind him to face Adam.

Lance offers a sheepish wave. “Uh. Hi, Adam.”

“Hello, Lance,” he says calmly.

Lance’s cheeks are bright red with embarrassment. “So...nice weather we’re having?”

Head tilted and arms crossed, Adam levels Lance with an emotionless stare. “Did you really run away and get nearly everyone here up in arms for a highly unnecessary and dramatic search and rescue mission just because you were avoiding me?”

Lance glances at Keith for a hint. He gets nothing. “Yes..?”

Adam holds it together for about another three seconds before his face cracks open into the dorkiest snort of laughter on the planet. He hunches over on his knees, trying to catch his breath while Shiro lays a supportive hand on his back. “Wow,” he gasps, wiping a tear away from under his glasses and straightening upright again. “That’s incredible.” Adam comes up and ruffles Keith’s hair until he’s swatted away. “Good job, Keith.”

Lance sags and clutches at his heart dramatically. “Oh thank god.” He leans heavily into Keith’s side, arms coming up to wrap around him like a koala. Keith stumbles to support his weight. “I don’t have to be a Romeo. Oh thank fuck.”

Rolling his eyes, Keith pats his head. “See? I told you. Don’t be such a baby next time.”

Lance leans back, eyes narrowed. “How do you know this wasn’t my elaborate plan to get you to run through the bouncy dragon with me? Huh?”

“He’s got you there,” Shiro agrees.

 

…

 

When they return to the picnic area, Shiro and Adam heft Lance (still barefoot) on their shoulders to parade him proudly around, earning the cheers and whistles of everyone in sight. Allura makes a wonderful speech about how thankful she is for the hard work that had returned Lance McClain to his beloved on this momentous occasion in history. They all gorge themselves on the food, the firefighters and cops engage in smack talk, the kids start to tire out.

Later, Keith and Lance perch themselves at the top of the play structure, leaning against the railing as they look out over the park while the sun sets behind them. Their shoulders just barely touch. Below them, Adam and Shiro sit close together at one of the picnic tables a little ways away from where everyone else is starting to clear out. Adam leans into Shiro’s side, fiddling happily with his engagement ring.

“He’s really cool with me?” Lance asks, breaking the quiet reverie.

Keith tilts his head until it’s resting on Lance’s shoulder. “Definitely. He was pretty flattered, actually.”

“Hm.” Lance’s arm comes around him, warm through Keith’s t-shirt. He presses a short kiss to Keith’s hair. “Think they’ll let me anywhere near the wedding?”

Keith laughs lowly under his breath, his own arm reaching around Lance’s waist. “I think they _like_ a little chaos. You might have set the bar too high today. I don’t know how you’ll top it at the reception.”

Gently, Lance maneuvers them so that they face each other, fingers coming up to lightly trace Keith’s jaw. They lean in together, lips pressing softly, Keith content to luxuriate in Lance’s hold for as long as the moment will last.   

Playfully, Lance breaks the kiss to bump their noses together. “I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

**Author's Note:**

> Howdy!
> 
> You know we HAD to throw something together for that great Adam news, and we figured why not jam it into our little series?
> 
> We really appreciate feedback of any kind (kudos, comments, shares) and hope you enjoyed reading as much as we enjoyed writing and editing!
> 
> Thanks!  
> P and M
> 
> PS: Check out our cowboy vampire klance fic, "Dracula Ain't No City Slicker!" We promise it's not as dumb as it sounds.


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